Old Man Longsword hadn't clearly seen the face of the person who ambushed him back then, but he still remembered the opponent's aura and figure.
His kneeling silhouette on the ground was tottering, his eyes fixed deathly on the young man slowly walking past, while his mouth could only let out unwilling, gasping sounds.
The young man in green did not spare a single extra glance at the dying old man on the ground. He returned to the side of the girl in green, holding her hand and transferring his spiritual energy to her, wanting to replenish the power draining from her body.
"Are you alright?"
Mu Ran smiled faintly, her eyes gentle. She lightly returned his grasp, her other hand resting steadily on her slightly swollen abdomen, and said softly, "I am very well, and the baby is very well too."
The space between Shu Qingyi's brows relaxed slightly, and the hostility faintly threatening to surface from his bones was suppressed.
Anyone who saw this young couple could easily guess that they must be Dao companions.
It was just that most cultivators pursued the Great Dao of immortality. Even if they sought Dao companions, they would only look for someone beneficial to their dual cultivation. Therefore, it was quite rare to see someone marry at the young man's age, let alone have a child.
Hongfu cultivated the Dao of Ruthlessness. Ever since she entered the Dao, she had severed her seven emotions and six desires, never once taking romantic love to heart.
Looking at the perfect couple before her now—their clasped hands, their blending spiritual energy, so naturally intimate and free of calculation—it was a sight she had never witnessed in her hundreds of years of cultivation.
Hongfu snapped back to reality, struggling to prop up her body, and said, "I, Hongfu, never owe anyone a favor. Whatever reward you want, just say it."
Mu Ran looked carefully at the woman in red before her, inevitably thinking back to hundreds of years ago... no, perhaps it should be said hundreds of years later, when she saw Hongfu's appearance as a wandering soul.
At that time, her ruthless state of mind shattered, and she actively provoked Cangshu Bai. Perhaps it was out of unwillingness, or perhaps she wanted to take a gamble. She burned herself away, wanting to see if this seemingly ruthless yet emotional man would be moved for even a moment.
No one knew exactly what Hongfu was aiming for with her moth-to-a-flame determination back then, but the ultimate result was that she died.
Mu Ran looked up at the young man again.
Shu Qingyi's gaze had always remained on her, never once wavering.
Mu Ran suddenly thought that her stepping forward to change Hongfu's transition from hatred to love might just be the right decision.
Thus, she looked at Hongfu and said, "We want to borrow the map in your hands. Once we come out of the cave, we will return it to you."
Hongfu hesitated.
Mu Ran added, "This way, we will be even."
Hearing this, Hongfu slowly relaxed her furrowed brows. She looked back and forth between Mu Ran and Shu Qingyi, saying, "Even if I lend you the map, how can you break through the ancient killing array?"
Shu Qingyi said indifferently, "Don't trouble yourself over it."
The next moment, he kicked the kneeling Old Man Longsword straight into the array.
Taking advantage of the split second when the array activated to attack the intruder, Shu Qingyi raised his hand and snatched the map from Hongfu's grasp. Then, with his other arm wrapped around Mu Ran, they dashed into the cave in the blink of an eye, disappearing from sight.
Immediately following was Old Man Longsword's miserable shriek. In merely the span of a breath, his body was torn apart, turning into a scattered pile of flesh and blood.
Standing at the periphery of the array, Hongfu took quite a while to recover her senses.
That young man... was truly ruthless and decisive, his actions sharper than one could imagine!
Inside the cave, eerie lights flickered on the stone walls, and the air was filled with a decaying, foul aura. As a crisp chill swept through, the foulness dissipated without a trace, leaving the air much fresher.
Shu Qingyi lowered his eyes to look at Mu Ran. "Does your body feel uncomfortable?"
Mu Ran shook her head and looked up with a smile. "Jinzhi, I am not that fragile. Don't be too nervous."
Shu Qingyi, however, felt that his nervousness was entirely justified.
Although he was still young and lacked a so-called sense of morality in many matters, he possessed a strong sense of responsibility in certain things.
Having just become a husband, he only wanted to be thoroughly attentive and flawless in every aspect.
Because he didn't want to lose to anyone, including that future self of his who had more life experience and had occupied her for much longer.
He held her hand, walking slowly forward with her, and said in a low voice, "You shouldn't have intervened back there."
Mu Ran understood what he meant. She asked, "If I didn't intervene, should I have just waited for you to save that girl and then throw her into the array as a meat shield?"
Shu Qingyi choked on his words. A moment later, he said stiffly, "I wouldn't do such a thing."
He absolutely would do such a thing.
To Shu Qingyi, there was no such thing as chivalry. Men and women were the same; there was only a difference in their level of utility. He was never the type to show tender affection just because a woman was delicate and beautiful.
Mu Ran was his sole exception.
He clearly knew he was a despicable person, and he was well aware that Mu Ran must understand his despicability too, yet he still subconsciously wanted to hide those base thoughts in front of her.
Only in front of Mu Ran did he want to be a "good person."
Mu Ran didn't care about these things. She swung their joined hands and chuckled softly, "I didn't intervene just now for any other reason, but simply to help you avoid a karmic entanglement."
Shu Qingyi couldn't guess what karma she was talking about.
Naturally, he had never even considered that he would have any romantic entanglements with other women.
Mu Ran sometimes wondered if he was enlightened about love or not, but that question wasn't important anymore.
She opened the map, and the different pathways within the cave automatically surfaced on it.
"Jinzhi, let's follow the map." Mu Ran's finger pointed at a small red dot on it, her eyes sparkling. "Your fortuitous encounter is right here."
Shu Qingyi gave a noncommittal "Mm," his emotions indiscernible.
With the map, they avoided all the branching paths and many dangerous mechanical traps and arrays. Finally, they stepped into a vast, isolated clearing.
This place was entirely different from the gloomy deadliness outside, appearing as if it were another world.
Azure wild grass carpeted the ground, swaying gently in the air and emitting a faint luminescence.
Right in the center of this sea of blue grass stood a small white flower.
The flower had no branches or leaves, only five pure, holy petals that were sheer and transparent. Within the stamen, faint golden streams of light swirled, giving off pure spiritual energy fluctuations.
Mu Ran became delighted. She pulled Shu Qingyi forward quickly, carefully plucked the flower, and offered it to him in her cupped hands.
"Jinzhi, look quickly! This is the Poluo Flower. Once it is refined into a pill, you will be able to break through your realm after taking it."
Shu Qingyi didn't move.
Mu Ran was puzzled. "Jinzhi, aren't you happy?"
After a moment, he finally reached out and took the Poluo Flower from her hands. The petals were so light they felt almost weightless, and the pure spiritual energy spread from his fingertips, seeping into his limbs and bones.
"I am very happy."
His voice was deep, and his lips twitched as if pulling into a smile.
Yet Mu Ran still felt that something was not quite right.
He had already pulled her into his embrace, stroking the hair at the back of her head, and dropped a light kiss on her crown. "Ranran, don't leave me."
Mu Ran's heart stirred slightly. She wanted to ask if he had noticed something, but just as she raised her eyes to look at him, she saw the dark purple gleam in his eyes that she had seen a long time ago.
He leaned down, coming closer to her, his palm resting on her cheek, his thumb gently caressing her skin.
"You won't leave me, right?" he said again. "Ranran, tell me I'm right."
Mu Ran's consciousness was hazy, only knowing to follow his words and say, "Right."
He chuckled softly, kissing the corner of her lips as a reward.
"Ranran."
"I will be a good husband, and I will try hard to be a good father."
"I don't need the past, and I don't need the future. Just this moment is enough."
"Be with me for all eternity, okay?"
"Ranran, say okay."
Mu Ran's eyes were vacant as she nodded blankly. "Okay."
She was completely enveloped by the young man's tall frame, as if trapped in a cage, every breath she took confined to this space filled with his scent.
The little blue fish spun around anxiously beside them.
When Mu Ran regained her consciousness again, she suddenly felt a bit cold. Looking around, she found herself in an ancient, deep, and secluded mystic realm.
She subconsciously raised her hand to cover her swollen belly, walking slowly through the unfamiliar environment.
There was a commotion ahead.
"That ancient spiritual jade hidden in the deepest part of your sea of consciousness—are you going to hand it over and suffer less, or should I cut open your sea of consciousness and dig it out along with your spiritual root?"
"I'll hand it over, I'll hand it over!"
The cultivator pinned under his foot hastily offered up the spiritual jade. The next moment, the young man crushed his head beneath his foot.
When everything settled down, the young man in green raised his eyes and saw the girl in green standing not far away.
Just a breath later.
The hostile aura around him suddenly dissipated. His eyes curved into a smile as he reached out a hand to her, saying gently:
"Ranran, come here."
Mu Ran felt a sense of bewilderment in her heart.
